Sima Ying

During Empress Jia Nanfeng's rule behind the throne, Sima Ying was assigned to guard the important city of Ye in Hebei.

Under Sima Yong, he was stripped of his title as crown prince and reduced to a mere general.

Despite his ambitions and ruthlessness towards his half-brothers, Emperor Hui and Sima Ai, he was also popular among the people of Hebei for his benevolent rule.

After his death, the rebels, Gongshi Fan and Ji Sang rose up in Hebei against Sima Yue, using the pretext of avenging the late prince to win the support of the populace.

[7] Sima Ying was handsome but not much more intelligent than his developmentally disabled half-brother Emperor Hui.

However, he developed a good reputation among officials and the people by being lenient, filial to his mother Princess Dowager Cheng, and listening to the advice of his capable advisor Lu Zhi.

Sima Lun was captured by officials in Luoyang who declared for the rebellion as well, and forced to issue an edict returning the throne to Emperor Hui.

When he bid farewell to Sima Jiong, he did not talk about politics at all but only about his mother's illness, and this brought further praise on his character, as did his subsequent acts to collect the bodies of soldiers who had died in the war against Sima Lun to give them proper burials.

He had his sons created princes, and ran the matters of the central government from his mansion, rarely visiting the emperor or attending the imperial meetings.

He put people he trusted in charge of the defenses of Luoyang, while remotely controlling the government from Yecheng.

Eventually, the officials in Luoyang tired of the situation, and they rose under Sima Yue's command in 20 August 304.

(Upon hearing Sima Ying's collapse, Liu Yuan, instead of coming to Sima Ying's aid, declared independence from Jin and styled himself the Prince of Han, claiming descent (through a princess) from the Han dynasty, thus creating Han-Zhao.)

After Sima Ying was removed as crown prince, the people of Yecheng nevertheless missed the days when he was considered a capable governor, under Lu's guidance.

In 305, his former subordinates, the generals Gongshi Fan (公師藩) and Ji Sang therefore declared a rebellion, seeking to restore him.